Monday, August 19, 2013

Watch and Learn: Assessing Reading Skills



This video was very insightful to me.  It was interesting that this student is 10 years old, so she is probably in 4th or 5th grade, and had such distinct areas of strengths and weaknesses.  The idea that a student can perform in the 94% of math and 12% of reading simultaneously is interesting. 

Frequent and ongoing assessment used consistently with this student was aiding in the progress Becca was making.  Dr. Lyon stressed the importance of diagnosing reading issues and being proactive in quickly working on and “fixing” those problem areas.  Frequent testing and monitoring seems like the best way to help struggling readers become stronger readers. 

It’s interesting to me that Dr. Lyon mentioned how reading is an emotional issue.  As a fifth grade teacher, I have seen this first hand, just within the first weeks of school.  My students have come to my classroom with a few students from their class the previous year.  The students want to impress each other, and of course, all students want to look and sound like they understand all aspects of learning.  When it comes time for students to read aloud, I can visibly see an uncomfortable shift in some students.  The way students slink into and try to become one with their chairs becomes so evident in the time that the class works to read a text aloud.

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